By Grammar, Past tenses

Re: "I would be surprised..."

I was concentrating on the choice between were and was (subjunctive vs. indicative), and I neglected to address the choice between was/were and is (past vs. present). You're referring to the use of past throughout once the main clause introduces the past tense. Hmmm. Defend it? That's...

Re: I thought a spider is/was an insect

Thank you very much indeed, Jim. That's a great explanation. You cleared all my doubts. Forgive me for thinking out loud as I hope you can correct me if I am still making any mistakes. Firstly, I didn't notice that it was (can only use "was", "is" not possible?) ...

Re: I thought a spider is/was an insect

No, I didn't know that. We are all here to learn and I don't think my English is much better than yours. In this case, you certainly know better than me. I just googled for "that the sun was a star" / "that the sun is a star" and found that both have similar number...

Re: I thought

that I know how to ... (NO!)

Re: I thought

Could a native speaker please respond to New2grammar's query? Many thanks.

Editing of paragraph/1

An Anonymous' s post on the subject of the ' difference between 'can' and ' able ' contains a post thread (#354509 ) in which Mister Micawber says that 'can' and ' be able to ' have the same meaning and instructs the main poster to use ' I can't...

Re: correct choice of words

Hi New2grammar A verb in the past tense.can be used afterr 'since'. I have been studying at Nanyang School since was in Primary 1.

Re: Present/Past tense in the present

I would like to thank you for your edition.However, I cannot understand/ have not understood/have not been understanding the logic of your edition.Could you ...' b. am not able to understand I was reading the thread and wanted to...

Re: Present/Past tense in the present

Hello Grammar Teacher, I would like to thank you for your advice. I have accepted item b.,that is, am not able to understand.However, I am doubtful about the rest. Could you tell me whether those underlined words,including item a.(have yet to understand ) can be accepted as alternatives in...

Past/present or past perfect tense in ?

A partial grammar question letter : ' "Hello Grammar Teacher, I would like to thank you for your edition. However, I am not able to understand the logic of your edition. Could you..." Hello Grammar Teacher/Teachers, At the time of writing the letter, I still have not understood...